l68 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the first true leaves are formed. All apple seedlings at this sta- 

 tion are now raised in beds four feet wide and ten rods long. 

 The bed is bounded by boards twelve inches wide held on edge 

 by stakes at regular intervals. This makes a bed with a little 

 wall or border one foot in height. The seeds are sown about 

 one inch deep in drills ten inches apart and three or four seeds to 

 the inch. This may be done in early spring, but fall planting is 

 preferred as spring is a busier season, and a few davs neglect 

 causes premature sprouting. When planted in the fall the bed 

 is mulched with coarse, well rotten manure to prevent heaving 

 by the frost in winter. This will happen, especially on clay soil. 

 Mulch protects also from winter drought when there is no snow 

 on the ground. This mulch should be removed early in the 

 spring, and if the ground appears baked, which will sometimes 

 happen in spite of the mulch, the surface should be stirred lightly 

 with a garden rake. 



"As soon as the young seedlings appear above the ground it 

 is found essential to shade them. This is best done by lath 

 screens. The interval between the laths should be the width of 

 a lath, thus cutting ofif one-half of the sunlight. The screens are 

 made a little over four feet wide and of length convenient for 

 easy removal when necessary in long rainy spells. As soon as 

 the second pair of true leaves form, and the crust has been 

 broken between the rows with a small hand-weeder, the amount 

 of shade is gradually lessened, common lath fencing being found 

 most convenient for this purpose. The young plants will soon 

 be fully inured to the sun and will make rapid growth with 

 proper care. This means the removal of all weeds and breaking 

 of the crust between the plants as soon as the ground begins 

 to bake after a rain. Some plant seed very thickly in the bed, 

 but this makes the seedlings too small the first year, and a year's 

 growth is lost ; on the other hand, if the seed is planted too 

 thinly, too much space is required. In a dry season Avater is' 

 essential at times, but a thorough soaking is then given. The 

 amateur method of sprinkling every day is usually worse than 

 no watering at all, as it causes the surface to bake. 



"In the nurseries of Europe it is the common practice to 

 transplant the seedlings the first season, as soon as the first few 

 leaves are formed. The great advantage of this method is the 

 breaking up of the tap root. At this station it is found that a 

 much stronger root-system is developed by this method and, 

 hence, it is desirable, especially where it is intended to use young 

 seedlings as stocks for budding. However, in a dry season it is 

 not advisable, because the root is often quite crooked at the coUir. 

 or point of union with the top, and this may easily be strained 

 in digging. 



"For handling small lots of choice seed my most recent 

 method is to plant the seed in flats or shallow boxes in the fall. 

 These flats are buried for winter freezing and in the spring are 

 placed in the frames and shaded with lath as already described. 

 To prevent drying out the flats are sunk even with the surface. 

 When the true leaves are well developed the seedlings with ad- 



